Open Mike: Sleep Apnea

UPDATE: Today I joined a gym that has six different kinds of cardio machines. My insurance covered the entire cost. My son has been very encouraging—he's very athletic and likes to exercise. I'll publish updates every couple of months. Thanks so much for all the good and informative comments—I learned a lot. —Mike 

Just wanted to report for those who might be interested that I'm doing much better after resuming treatment for sleep apnea.

I used a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine* for about a year a few years back. I discontinued using it because I lost 40 lbs. (2.9 stone) on a WFPB (whole food plant based) diet, which I practiced for about 18 months as an experiment (mainly so I could write about it here). Unfortunately, following the death of my little brother, I got depressed, resumed my former bad eating habits, and gained some of the weight back. Not resuming the CPAP therapy led to heart problems. I don't understand it well enough to talk about it intelligently, but I was told that "electrical" malfunctions were causing arrhythmias, so my heart wasn't pumping blood efficiently, so my body wasn't getting enough oxygen. The signs should have been obvious: I took no fewer than four naps one Sunday, and my regular 1.5 mile walk with Butters had become an ordeal that I often cut short. Exercise made me feel worse, not better.

Sleep apnea (characterized by breathing that stops and starts during sleep) can be deadly. Reggie White, the famous defensive end for the Eagles and Packers, died of it at the age of only 43. Carrie Fisher, the actress who played "Princess Leia" in the Star Wars movies, is said to have died from it. It likely caused or contributed to the deaths of Jerry Garcia and John Candy. You don't have to be overweight or old to suffer from it: Amy Pohler, of "SNL" and "Parks and Rec," is a sufferer. Arianna Huffington, William Shatner, and Randy Jackson had it. Thirty-eight thousand deaths annually in the United States are attributed to it, but it's one of those conditions, like alcoholism, that is often not listed as the primary contributor to some of the deaths it might cause. For example, a common symptom is chronic daytime sleepiness, and "drowsy driving" is a significant cause of automobile accidents. But someone who falls asleep while driving and dies behind the wheel has died of a car accident, not of sleep apnea. Just like someone who gets drunk, passes out, and sets their bedding on fire with a cigarette has died in a fire and not of drinking.

In any event, Since resuming the CPAP 15 days ago, the difference is striking. I'm sleeping much better; normal energy has magically returned; I can walk all the way with Butters without any effort; I've stopped taking naps; and my heart is back to beating steadily. I'm seeing an EP (electrophysiologist) next month.

Pedal pedal
I've also started researching exercise machines I can put in my house. I'm leaning toward a stationary cycle, but I have to use one for a few weeks at the health club to make sure I'll tolerate it long-term.

And I'm going to take heart health more seriously. I'm re-reading How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Caldwell Esselstyn of the Cleveland Clinic (he's the father of Kirk Tuck's good friend and swimming partner Rip Esselstyn, who is also an author), and I have Dean Ornish's book in the queue. No one in my family that I know of has died of heart disease, and I'd rather not be the first. Heart disease is the cause of death that's affected more than any other by simple dietary changes. I know that a lot of people would prefer to die earlier or be impaired—suffer a longer and more painful decline—than eat plants, but I don't care. That's them. I've never liked food that much. I'm not a gourmet. Left to my own devices I wouldn't be cooking exquisite four-course meals or paying large sums to eat at gracious restaurants with tablecloths and waiters. I'd merely be eating: fast food (because it's ready, as one standup comedian observed); sugar, in the form of candy, doughnuts, and ice cream; and cheese. I have unusually poor food instincts. When I was putting in 12-hour days establishing this site, I used to eat whole packages of cheese sticks at my desk simply because it was convenient. (Cheese is the top entry on the bad-for-you list, the one thing to avoid most.) I eat bad food when I eat out but only because that's all there is. As far as I can tell there isn't one single meal on the menu of any restaurant in my town that conforms to a WFPB idea of healthy food. There's a Chipotle that's 45 minutes away in Canadaigua, and a Thai restaurant 35 minutes away in Watkins Glen, but nothing like that here. So I eat badly when I go out to eat only because I like to go out to eat.

But as far as the nutrition and exercise are concerned, I've done it before and I can do it again. Got to get back on the horse that threw you off. Gotta do what you gotta do.

Mike

*As a side benefit, the CPAP getup is super sexy...to women who like their guys to look like alien elephants from a David Lynch film. That inimitable "I'm on life support" look. Hubba hubba. I get more attractive by the day. Which reminds me, I need to go get my few remaining hairs cut! Have a nice Sunday. This is the number one day out of all 365 that I regret not having TV. If you get to watch the games, you probably won't envy me sitting here enjoying chess videos. Later.

Original contents copyright 2023 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Tom Passin: "You will probably get a thousand messages like this, but I've used a CPAP for 25 years. I got used to it, and it doesn't keep me from getting to sleep or turning over in bed in the middle of the night. Make sure to use distilled water (I imagine it's already been recommended) to avoid mineral buildups inside the machine (and perhaps your lungs)."

BWJones: "I ran a sleep lab for a few years, and cannot overstate how important proper treatment of sleep apnea is for those who suffer from it. I am so glad you got treatment."

Jim R: "For me the CPAP resolved migraine headaches. I still get the shimmering visual now and then, but no crippling headaches since 2007. And my wife frequently has night sweats without her CPAP but never when she wears it. Definite correlation and a strong chance of causation. Amazing how many different ways bodies react to slow suffocation...."

C. R. Marshall: "You might look into recumbent exercise bikes. They are not as flat as recumbent street bikes, but you do sit up instead of leaning forward. I am on mine 5–6 days a week for at least 30 minutes. They are easy on the knees (my knees are bad)."

Dan Khong: "It is one of those many silent disease conditions that sufferers never thought they have. Without proper testing and diagnosis—which is elaborate and time consuming—many sufferers just carry on with a low quality life."

Mike Ferron: "Karin and I no longer eat out because of the food choices and quality you pointed out. I no longer miss it or spending the good money I had to pay. My cooking skills have improved dramatically over the last few years and am comfortable with some Italian, Spanish and Tex-Mex styles of cuisine. I read somewhere if you can cook you can develop film. I say if you can develop film you can cook."

MikeR: "Keep it going, Mike! CPAP user since 1999. I don't leave home (to travel) without it. While checking out stationary bikes, try the recumbent ones. I have back issues. The regular sit up straight and high ones like the gyms have in spin classes give me days long backaches. Recumbent bikes don't."

David Zalaznik: "Hi Mike, here is a link to an article my wife, Clare Howard, wrote from an interview with T. Colin Campbell, another plant-based diet proponent. She has interviewed Esselstyn and Cornish both several times as well for articles. We came to Ithaca to interview Campbell at his home and his wife made lunch for us. I photographed him but the photo is no longer attached to the article. Esselstyn's wife, Ann, recommends chopped up greens in morning oatmeal. We tried it with kale, love it, and now have it every day."

James C Chinn: "I have been attending a gym for going on 34 years, and going on 64 years old it also has become a great place to socialize with a wide variety of folks, even meeting some fellow photographers. Most gyms provide some form of initial coaching with a new membership so you can learn proper techniques and a base set of exercises. Besides cardio, working with weights is very beneficial to healthy aging. Start out slow, listen to your body and establish a regular schedule. Good luck and I look forward to your updates."

Comments

[Craig]

I occasionally amuse my wife by putting on my CPAP setup at bedtime and saying "Hello, bird," in the voice of Sesame Street's Snuffleupagus.

Have you ever considered surgery to open the airway as a method of curing sleep apnea? My doctor prefers to have me use the CPAP machine, but I've been using it for about seven years now and I still dislike it. I don't like being unable to sleep normally and I really dislike suddenly waking up in the middle of the night if there's a power outage (which, to be fair, has only happened once so far). The whole thing about being dependent on technology really bugs me.

[Sal Santamaura]

I've had this

https://www.nordictrack.com/skiers/nordictrack-classic-pro-skier

for 30 years and never stopped using it most days of the week. I strongly recommend it for the ability to exercise one's upper and lower body while not beating up joints/feet/etc.

[darlene]

Mike, I wish we lived closer because I could teach you how to cook healthier food that tastes good with little effort. Plant-based, that is (cooking meat is just as easy in an air fryer, but I have no experience). Look at a basket-style air fryer (7-8 qt) for roasting veggies, baking, and quick meals. There are many recipes online, but start with fresh veggies cut up in a bowl, a splash of olive oil, and salt & pepper, and depending upon the vegetable, 10-15 min @ 400° does a lot of vegetables right. (Keep temp to 400° or less when using olive oil, and most air fryers only go up to 400° anyways.)

I love to keep things simple but delicious. An air fryer, instant pot, and cast iron fryer are all I use anymore for cooking. This morning I made Johnny Cake in my air fryer on bake for 16 minutes--a piece of cake. Later today, I will take a crate of tomatoes, use my Carey pressure cooker (a larger version of an instant pot), cut up the tomatoes, eggplant, and onions, add salt, pepper, Italian seasonings, and a little sugar (gotta spoil myself sometimes) and let them cook for 15 minutes. I will freeze portions and use them as my sauce with Banza rotini (chickpea) pasta, my healthy alternative to spaghetti that tastes great!

As far as: "the CPAP getup is super sexy...to women who like their guys to look like alien elephants ..." I find it very unsexy when men allow themselves to fall apart. So if sleeping with a mask keeps someone healthy, that would not be unattractive IMO. My treadmill has been used for fast walking since I broke my leg in 2016. My leg was forever changed, and running was not something I could do with ease any longer. So I fast walk, which is not a big deal because the alternative would have been way worse.

Get healthy and take a few cooking tips from those that ARE doing it. Best to you!

[JoeB]

Last week Fox sports streamed the 49er game and I believe todays Eagle/49er game will be streamed (free). I don't know if CBS will be streaming the AFC game free for all.

[Bob Rosinsky]

Glad to hear you're feeling better. I wish there was a medication or some type of therapy that could make unhealthy foods (the ones I love) taste terrible.

[Rob T]

Glad you're feeling better. I can't recommend the Peleton bike enough. They are amazing. The classes really make a difference. Matt Wilpers is brilliant.

[Richard Tugwell]

I can bore you with my own experience of sleep apnoea.

I was diagnosed with central sleep apnoea back in about 2009. At around the same time I was formally diagnosed with AFIB, although I'd noticed it decades before, but it was episodic and just a mild discomfort. In 2009 I was living in Switzerland, and there are quite a few specialist there who are rather interested in both of these things and their interaction. Because of how the Swiss health care system works I had access to a lot of opinion. I was impressed by how much they were prepared to say "we think these are related, but it's all very complicated and we can't be 100% sure what really is going on in the human body".

Central sleep apnoea is distinct from obstructive sleep apnoea. In the latter it is usually something like obesity. In the former, it is your brain, which, for reasons best know to itself, tells you to stop breathing in your sleep. Then a while later it starts shaking you by the shoulder shouting "wake up, wake up. You're not breathing.

So, the vagaries of the human body, which we are sometimes told symbolises the epitome of perfection.

On which I'm reminded of a girlfriend, who was fond of pointing out to creationists that the female reproductive system was a complete refutation of intelligent design

[Richard Parkin]

I can’t imagine that a stationary bike is very interesting. Maybe just get a real bike. If you are cycling for fitness, any old bike will do.

[Keith Cartmell]

Good to hear the CPAP is working for you. On a photo trip to Yukon I once shared a hotel room with a man that used a CPAP machine. It gave me nightmares because it sounded exactly like Darth Vader. I mean exactly. Then it got worse when he took it off to go outside for a smoke. Yes. I now cheerfully pay extra to have a room to myself on trips.

[Not THAT Ross Cameron]

Glad to see you are getting on top of your health again.

Re any exercise, could I please encourage you to build up to it gradually. Don’t dive in and go hard from the outset - you’ll only cause injury, get dispirited with the idea of exercise and drop it again. Your exercise bike will become an expensive storage rack / dust gatherer.

It’s all about building up you body’s ability to withstand and recover from exertion. Stay within that limit and you’ll be fine. But go beyond that limit at your peril. And that level is all relative to level of fitness. I used to be really fit, run 1/2 marathons and lots of other activities. That stopped for several years. I wanted to get back into jogging and decided to go for a ‘steady little’ 5km (~3 miles) jog. I used to do them twice a day for 4 days a week (jog to/from work) because my body could easily recover from that level of exertion, so I thought I could start there.

I couldn’t finish it. My legs really hurt for days afterwards - not the good pain. Basically, I had overtrained for my current level of fitness (i.e. none). I had to go back to square 1 - walk-jog-walk, for less distance and less duration. I had to gradually build up the jogging, duration and distance. It was frustrating as hell, and I’ve had to go back to walk-jog-walk a couple of times, including at my physiotherapists instruction, for various reasons. But it is far better than the alternative.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

I think a CPAP would let me sleep with my head under the covers, providing fresh air to breathe (I hate breathing stale air).

Exercise, though, has never made me feel energized. It has always made me feel tired and like not doing anything for a while. Always, long as I can remember, including when I was 80 pounds lighter in college and traveling 3-5 miles every single day by bike or on foot.

[John Schwaller]

Rather than a regular stationary bike, you may want to consider a ‘Schwann Airdyne’….either AD7 (best) or AD6. Being able to use legs AND arms, plus the variable resistance based to the speed should improve your enjoyment and results.

[Rusty]

When you mask up think of yourself as the TOP gun. Hubba Bubba indeed

[skip Davis]

Mike, if you have access to a gym, try one of the rowing machines,it is very good work out. Also weight lifting is in vogue again and is supposed to help with keeping the body in good shape. Try as many machines as you can before throwing down your money.

[Chico Ruger]

Mike, you wrote: “Cheese is the top entry on the bad-for-you list, the one thing you should avoid most.”

Here’s some information from The Cleveland Clinic:

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/is-cheese-good-for-you/

Nothing seems clear-cut anymore.

[Colin]

Great news that you've experienced such a significant and speedy improvement! As a lifelong vegetarian and three year vegan I look forward to hearing more about your diet. Another key reason to eat plants - apart from ethics - is simple planetary survival re the awful waste of resources needed to produce meat.

When you refer to alien elephant in a David Lynch movie, I hope you're not referring to Joseph Merrick? I live two minutes walk from where he was put on show in a shop window and three minutes from the hospital where he was taken and cared for. There's a little park being built outside our block of flats and we're hoping to get a statue of him erected. We also hope it will distract from the awful Jack the Ripper tours that congregate round here (we live on the street where his first victim was found).

[Bernie McIlhatton]

This might be worth investigating for your sleep apnea Mike. As serendipity would have it, this article appeared in The Guardian newspaper a few days ago.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/28/nhs-begins-treating-sleep-apnoea-with-pioneering-chest-implant

[Daniel]

On your exercise bike search.
Yard Sales, anyone?
Over the past few years have picked up 14 exercise machines at yard sales, Two were purchased, the rest "please take it". Three were over $1K new. Most expensive I paid $15.00 for was a top quality elipiical trainer. The guy getting rid of it said "was good to hang clothes on".
So many of them bought with good intentions and used so little, finally out the door for good.
Have kept two of them. All the others gave away to folks who said they would use them.

[Jeff Hughes]

I have a little brother so no idea how that would impact me if he were to die before me but I can imagine that being a significant event. I do know that your post from about three years ago made a positive impact on me - the one about watching Forks Over Knives and introducing the WFPB diet that I have been on since then. I now think of cheese as a food made for unhealthy Kings from way back and some appeal amongst the masses to "eat like a King" (or like a "Burger King"), a bit too often, has led us to where we are today.

My mother-in-law has seen a huge benefit from wearing a sleep apnea mask since October 2022. She used to have to start napping at 10 am, took two naps a day, and was up every two hours every night. Now she only wakes up once in the night, her blood sugar has gone down, and says it is "nothing but good and I wouldn't give it up for anything.". She doesn't nap at all during the day and no longer feels like she is "dragging". Keep up the good work taking care of yourself and thank you for sharing your experiences with us.

[Brian]

re a previous article of yours, i too have severe sleep apnea and need a cpap. its the main reason i bought a backup generator.

[Mark]

I'm late to the comments here, but my two cents on stationary bikes is don't succumb to the notion that any old machine will do. Get one that's comfortable and adjustable. I use a Lifecycle recumbant stationary that I purchased used from a gym that was upgrading their fleet. It's reasonably quiet, and I mitigate the boredom by watching movies while I pedal. I also use a device that attaches to the the rear wheel of my regular road bike, lifting it off the ground and making it stationary. It's noisier than the purpose-built stationary, but it better mimics actual road cycling, which is a plus for me because road cycling is my main form of exercise, and something I plan to enjoy as long as I'm able. You also might consider taking a spin class at a gym that has a selection of different types of machines. Good luck with this!

[Albert Smith]

Mike, this is in regards to your update about joining a gym... good! Now, think of this as a journey, not a destination.

I a previous post, you mentioned visiting a gym with a female friend and over doing a workout. This is a common thing. Kill your ego and do a slow immersion. Crawl before you walk, walk before you run. You are not a teen and your recovery can't be the same as a youngster, so measure things against your own self and not the 30-something person next to you with a decade of training behind them.

I'm your age and have maintained my fitness level such that I can still pass my military fitness test. I'm a martial arts and kettlebell instructor, but if I am forced to take time off (had surgery last year), I start easy and slow to get back. You can't dive in, you need to wade in.

Start slow, let your body adjust and good luck.

[Frederick Mueller]

You gotta move. My preferred exercise is a bicycle. A real bicycle. Doesn't matter what you choose, just move. I don't do it to live longer, I do it to improve the quality of my life.

[David Glos]

I'm with Richard, in that I find a real bike, and riding outside, more appealing. Understand that isn't quite compatible with current weather conditions in western NY. But, when the weather cooporates, you have excellent outdoor options.

They do have these cool gadgets, called 'stationary trainers' for quickly converting your road going bicycle into an indoor trainer. Even have 'smart' versions, where you can ride against a video (sound OK), and/or online cohort (no interest in exercise as a social activity). The hardware adjusts resistance based on visuals and program. Take a gander over at REI.com. No allegiance, they just have several models available for anonomous investigation with user reviews.

[David Lee]

I hate excercise. I really do. For a while I was doing about 5 km of power walk and it was boring. Now I’m cycling and I love it. I have a normal bike, with a small bag where I can carry my camera and a book. I normally do between 30 and 35 km, not trying to break any records. I go out in my shorts and Teva sandals. When I told my doctor about it she was happy and her only recommendation was to get myself the best helmet I could buy.